Tuesday, June 16, 2009

"16/06/2009 Despite the gap between Barack Obama’s Cairo speech and Benjamin Netanyahu’s Bar Ilan speech, the US president praised what he said was "positive movement" in the Israeli Prime Minister paper setting conditions for a Palestinian state......

Obama’s comments give the impression that Washington and Tel Aviv have two roles for the same mutual interest: Putting an end to the Palestinian cause and no Palestinian pre-conditions for talks.Netanyahu’s paper was more a belligerent speech than a “positive movement” as it opens the way for more instability and insecurity in the region. On the other hand, Obama – who stressed on many occasions that the US will never turn its back on Israel – has acquitted Netanyahu of the charge that he and his right wing government refuse to endorse the two-state solution. The American President is now demanding that Arabs take more steps and make more efforts to help solve the crisis; this means zero Israeli concessions for more Arab yielding.Otherwise, how can Obama’s satisfaction at Netanyahu’s conditions be explained, especially that they contradict the Arab initiative of 2001? Netanyahu wants the Palestinians to recognize the Jewish character of Israel, a condition all Palestinians and Arabs reject, he will continue to build settlements, he will not give the Palestinians right to use their airspace, he want “the state of Palestine” demilitarized, he won’t give occupied Jerusalem or even part of it and he won’t let Palestinians refugees return home......

But the Israeli media quoted government sources in occupied Jerusalem as saying that the “U.S. administration is prepared to show flexibility on construction in West Bank settlements. They will apparently not demand a full freeze on construction, but will agree that projects now underway can be completed.” The source added the Americans understand that even if Netanyahu agreed to a full freeze, the government did not have the legal authority to force private construction companies to stop building......"